Chris Collyer: Back to beginnings for new Harlequins duo Katie Shillaker and Jessie Spurrier

It’s all going back to the beginnings for Katie Shillaker and Jessie Spurrier as the two Harlequins prepare to face off against Ealing Trailfinders on Sunday at the very ground that the electric winger and powerful prop kickstarted their impressive rugby careers, at Horsham.

Shillaker and Spurrier, both 21, joined the Harlequins in 2022 and, after a combined time of 11 years at Horsham, both went their separate ways until finally both signed for the London-based club.

Shillaker said: “I most enjoyed the environment whilst I was at Horsham. It was a nice group of girls, everyone got on and everyone wanted to be there for the right reasons, which helped with my development and my favourite moment between me and Jessie is when we played in the Sevens together.”  

Spurrier said, “I really enjoyed playing at Horsham because we were a family. Everyone was so linked in and close both inside and outside of rugby, and it felt like a squad unit.

“I love how our friendship started at Horsham, we’ve been through it together and been through it all as well as playing Sevens together.”

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Katie Shillaker

Shillaker, 5ft 6, thinks that her playing for both Horsham and Worthing College was a big part in getting noticed to take her career further.

“I started at Horsham and during my time there I also played for Horsham College which was also integral for my development and this allowed me to get picked up by the U-18’s and U-20s England which was a massive achievement for me and from college I joined straight into the Woman’s training at 17 before playing my first game for the Harlequins at 18.”

Jessie Spurrier

Spurrier, 5ft 7, took a slightly different route to the Harlequins and thinks that after spending time with her club’s rivals, Saracens, the decision to come back was undoubtedly correct as she was soon picked up by The Quins.

“I also started at Horsham and went to Worthing College, where I got picked up for U-18’s England.

“I then got picked up by the Saracens pathway and got contracted when I was 17 before going to university, but after returning home, I got picked up by Andy Rhys Jones to play for the Harlequins.”

Grassroots Game

With grass-roots rugby being so integral to the game, both Shillaker and Spurrier think the importance of clubs like Horsham is vital to the future of rugby.

Shillaker: “For me personally, I’ve made friends for life at Horsham, whether I stayed with rugby or not, I’ll always have that friendship.

“I think grassroots is really important to all players because they can see if you put in the right work and stay at it, then you can go far in the game.

“They can see where their players have ended up, and that will give hope to the younger generation.”

Spurrier said, “I think it’s really important for the next generation of players that are coming up.

“You’ve got a lot of girls from community clubs who are coming through the pathway, and it’s really important to keep feeding that in.

”Nothing but excitement for the two previous Horsham players as they relish the opportunity to be reunited with their founding club.

Shillaker said: “I’m absolutely buzzing, I made my debut there and I think it’ll be really good to have the community back together, we don’t get many opportunities as we’d like to support the Horsham lot, so it’ll be great for us to see them there and it’ll be nice for us to support them back.”

Spurrier continued: “I’m really excited to be back, I haven’t played at Horsham since the U-18’s so it’ll give me a great chance to go out in front of my friends and family again.

“It’ll be great to go back and show how we’ve developed as players.”   

By Chris Collyer

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